ICAN Update 2.24.23
The Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana regarding state and national matters. To act on these bills via action alert or by directly contacting your legislator, visit our Action Center. Listed below are the bills the ICC is monitoring most closely. The list is not exhaustive yet highlights the issues of greatest priority and relevance.
Not every bill is listed in our Action Center: we list action alerts for certain bills when they become most relevant in the legislative process.
To hear about the ICC’s activities from the past week, listen to our ICAN Podcast.
Solidarity
The bills under this section are in some way connected to the Church’s loving concern for others, expressed as the principle of “solidarity”. Solidarity can be defined as “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good”. Read more about solidarity.
This bipartisan effort appropriates significant funding for community behavioral health services, including a mental health crisis hotline number (988). The ICC supports these efforts to expand mental health services in Indiana.
ICC supports this bill.
HB1290 Earned Income Tax Credit
This bill expands the state earned income tax credit from 10 percent to 12 percent of the federal earned income tax credit. This tax credit delivers targeted assistance to the lowest income Hoosiers.
ICC supports this bill.
Allows undocumented Indiana residents to drive legally after obtaining insurance and passing a driver’s test. The driving card cannot be used for any purpose other than driving (for example, it can’t be used to vote). The ICC supports this policy because it would bring economic benefits to the state, increase road safety, and keep families together.
ICC supports this bill. ACT NOW
SB265 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
The TANF program uses federal funds to temporarily assist families in great need, but the assistance amount has not been updated in the state since 1988. The ICC has been supportive of expanding this program for many years. This bill expands the income eligibility and payment amounts.
ICC supports this bill. ACT NOW
SB334 Simplified SNAP Application
This bill allows simplified Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications for older adults and people with disabilities.
ICC supports this bill.
This bill expands income caps for childcare assistance and sets the assistance amounts at different levels dependent upon income.
ICC supports this bill.
SB364/HB1243 Paid Family and Medical Leave
Although these bills are unlikely to receive a hearing this year, the ICC supports pro-family policies such as paid family leave. Ensuring mothers and fathers have adequate time to spend with newborn children has significant, well-researched, positive impacts for family life.
ICC supports these bills.
This bill would raise rates for certain subprime loans and create a new loan product in the subprime loan market. While supporters of the bill believe the new product will create enough competition to counter the unregulated online and out-of-state market preying on Hoosiers, the ICC wants to keep rates lower in Indiana while we work toward a more regulated subprime lending industry nationally.
ICC opposes this bill.
This bill would provide meaningful remedies for tenants with negligent landlords, especially those landlords who refuse to repair essential systems in a rental unit.
ICC supports this bill. ACT NOW
HB1009 Pregnancy and Childbirth Expenses
This bill specifies that a court order could require a father to pay for at least 50 percent of pregnancy and childbirth expenses.
ICC supports this bill.
Care for Creation
The bills under this section are connected to the Church’s teaching on stewardship of the natural world. This area of the Church’s social doctrine is intimately connected with Christian anthropology: our duties towards humans and towards the environment are closely linked. Read more about the Church’s teaching on the environment.
SB335 Climate Solutions Task Force
This bipartisan bill establishes a task force that would study a variety of climate-related topics and submit recommendations to the legislature.
ICC supports this bill. ACT NOW
This bill would require childcare and pre-k facilities to test drinking water for lead contamination.
ICC supports this bill.
Dignity of Life and Bioethics
The bills under this section are connected to the Church’s teaching on the dignity of life, which is often referred to as the “prime principle” of the Church’s social doctrine. This principle is the foundation of all human rights. Read more about the Church’s teaching on human dignity.
HB1568 Pharmacist Contraceptive Prescriptions
This bill, as it currently stands, would allow pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives. The Church is opposed to this idea due to the risk to women’s health, unborn life, and the false narrative behind this bill: that increased access to contraception leads to fewer abortions.
ICC opposes this bill.